Louisiana's highest court has intervened to halt proceedings against the state's attorney general, pausing a politically explosive criminal indictment filed just hours earlier by a New Orleans grand jury.
Liz Murrill, the state's first female attorney general and a Republican, faced 16 criminal counts charging her with intimidation and malfeasance. The indictment accused her of attempting to pressure New Orleans officials who opposed a law, passed by Republican lawmakers, that overhaul the city's court system.
Murrill filed an emergency motion for a stay on Thursday, the same day the indictment was announced. By Friday morning, the Louisiana Supreme Court granted it, agreeing that she had presented "a compelling argument concerning the disturbing defects in the grand jury proceedings and in the trial court's handling of those proceedings."
The case stems from a months-long power struggle between Republican state leaders and Democratic officials in New Orleans. At the center is a newly passed law that eliminated a court clerk position won by Calvin Duncan, who spent nearly 30 years in prison before being exonerated of a murder conviction. Duncan won the clerk race in November with 68% of the vote.
Murrill had warned eight New Orleans officials, including Mayor Helena Moreno and District Attorney Jason Williams, that they could lose their positions if they continued opposing the law. Duncan claims the state was retaliating against him by erasing a job he had just won.
The grand jury proceedings themselves became a point of contention. A New Orleans judge sealed the courtroom before the indictment was returned, ejecting journalists and news personnel who were present. Reporters from WWL Louisiana, along with the station's attorney, were handcuffed and removed after protesting the closure. The judge never publicly explained the decision to seal the room, though a court spokeswoman later said it was necessary to protect grand jurors' identities during deliberations.
Governor Jeff Landry, also a Republican, has vowed to swiftly pardon Murrill if she is convicted, calling the case a "kangaroo court" and saying her reputation should not suffer at the hands of what he views as a retaliatory prosecution.
Murrill called the charges "retaliatory, meritless and unconstitutional" and pledged to continue performing her duties as attorney general.
The supreme court's stay allows Murrill to file defensive motions, including a motion to quash the charges. The order also permits both sides to file additional pleadings and has explicitly reserved the right for Murrill to seek the recusal of either the special prosecutor or the trial judge, citing potential conflicts of interest.
The special prosecutor who obtained the indictment, former judge Laurie White, previously served as an attorney for Duncan, a detail that Murrill's legal team flagged as problematic.
Author James Rodriguez: "This stay is a sharp rebuke of the grand jury process and a signal that Louisiana's top court sees real problems with how this case was handled from the start."
Comments